Early Frasnian thelodont scales from central Iran and their implications for turiniid taxonomy, systematics and distribution

The early Frasnian turiniid thelodont Neoturinia hutkensis gen. nov. is re-described on the basis of a new large scale set from the Chahriseh section in central Iran. Detailed morphological and histological information supports a new generic affinity for this species, which was previously assigned to Turinia. The generic affinity of other turiniid thelodonts from Gondwana is tested by a phylogenetic analysis based on scales, which proposes that most taxa from Gondwana form a clade separate from that comprising the first-studied Laurussian forms, including the type species Turinia pagei Powrie, 1870. This suggests that many of the Turinia species from Gondwana should be separated from this genus and need to be revisited. On the strength of the analysis, younger Gondwanan taxa in the mid–early Late Devonian should probably be referred to the new genus; one Late Silurian taxon from eastern Gondwana is removed. A biogeographic analysis, using a parsimony ancestral state method, is also conducted in order to discuss dispersal patterns in relation to the achieved model of interrelationships.

http://zoobank.org/urn:lisd:zoobank.org:pub:03499C12-344D-4296-A633-201CDB982445

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Citation for this article: Hairapetian, V., H. Blom, and S. Turner. 2016. Early Frasnian thelodont scales from central Iran and their implications for turiniid taxonomy, systematics and distribution. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2016.1100632.